Innovate UK
Director of Activation- Strategy to Delivery
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Director of Activation- Strategy to Delivery
Vacancy for Director of Activation - Strategy to Delivery: Innovation Secondment Opportunity
📅 Application Deadline: 12 July 2026 (advert closes at 23:59 on the day prior to Workday close)
📌 Job Title: Director of Activation - Strategy to Delivery 📍 Band: UKRI Band X (UKRI Terms & Conditions) £ Annual Salary: £94,931 (gross per annum) 👩🏻💼 Reports to: Executive Chair of Innovate UK 🏢 Location: Field-based (Swindon-based flexibility) with ~4-6 nights away per month Contract: Fixed-Term (15-18 months)
“Shortlisted candidates will progress through secure assessments—adjustments are offered for applicants with disabilities, neurodivergences, or health conditions. Contact Recruitment@ukri.org to discuss needs early.”
About the Role
The Director of Activation will lead end-to-end organisational transformation at Innovate UK, ensuring alignment with UKRI’s Shaping Our Future Programme and the new strategy + operating model. This critically time-sensitive role demands scientific authority to drive change, shape enterprise-level decisions, and manage strategic + reputational risk under strategic ambiguity.
🔹 Job Purpose
Responsible for designing and implementing the future Innovate UK organisational model, including:
- Goals, governance, decision rights, and digital enablement
- Stakeholder management to support scalable, compliant delivery of innovation funding at UK level This scalable transformation will enable UKRI to deliver its mission “fit for purpose” acrossInfos desirable by the strategy.
✅ Key Responsibilities
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Enterprise Transformation Leadership
- Align organisation-wide strategy execution across people, process, digital, governance, and stakeholder models
- Prioritise time-critical trade-offs under competing strategic priorities
- Own benchmark outcomes and delivery assurance across multiple directorates + functions//funding flows`
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Organisational Design & Operating Model
- Redesign structures, roles (including mass re-transition/total rewards strategy) and workflows for agility
- Embed high-performing business models, portfolio approaches and differentiated propositions
- Oversee mature operational models to transition project-based into accountable family, post-transformation
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Digital/ AI-Enhanced Change
- Provide a leadership for innovation in digital and data to transform UKRI at scale
- Integration requires data/ digital assets platforms/ tech to underpin end-to-end customer experience across business support
- Work with UKRI Technology Teams/Project Board + Smart Grant team) to align perspectives while focusing on UKRI’s needs
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Governance, Risk & Assurance
- Set and enforce change governance, aligned with Ensuring transparency to Innovate UK ELB & UKRI programme
- Gage risks for delivery, financial/wrapping implications, deep regulatory exposure/ stakeholder and reputational impact on funding decisions
- Compliance requires alignment with subsidy control and Government’s Primer Managing Public Money
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Stakeholder Leadership
- Engage with high-level stakeholders (Executive Committee, DSIT link, government entities) to shape policies
- Advocate for UKRI member councils+ delivery partnerships, resolve conflicts and align collective leadership
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Leadership & Culture
- Model leadership behaviours indicative of Senior Civil Service standards/pro-aligned at senior stakeholder levels
- Sponsor participation to foster ownership across the senior cohort, creating a culture of fact-driven optimisation, continuous improvement, and commercial discipline
🇬⭐ Scale & Complexity
- Impacts national-funding infrastructures and development support delivery with wide partner ecosystem
- Requires coordination with BPD-R&D, BioMedBrand, Deloitte, among others
- Functions across four key directorates (UKRI level), spanning commercial policy, fiscal transition, and national security
💼 Person Specification
Shortlisting Criteria
- Proven Director-level transformational experience—open budget-scaled, acute surgical interventions—Cross progressing scaleout in business design (
People, process, AI/tech,supply chain) - Decisions on limited and not just authentic governing the balancing of competing demands, priorities)
Interview & Evidence-Based Competencies Acquired (S/II)
- Strategic decision-making; execution under uncertainty; challenging external external governance
- Influencing frameworks, across senior stakeholders (inteogating executive investment decisions and result-driven governance)
- Translating/operationalising code strategies into repository
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Competencies (Core Profiles assessed):
- Strategic Awareness & Delivery—This role is aligned to the Civil Service Competency Framework
- Self-Led Employee networks
- (Over) compromise materials with resilience during ideological crises or conflagah�� developing
- Values–Conforming to the Code of Conduct & supporting ethical workplace
🚗 Travel Requirements
- Hybrid framework is active within your new post2"e circumferential of "Swaphrsky English– and National).
- Mobility involves: Swindon, office attendance once weekly, and occasional attendance away assignments (UK-wide).
🤝 Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Innovate UK is a Disability Confident Employer. They commit to evaluate all candidates meeting requirements, including adjusted rules. Pre-employment security checks includes:
- Criminal records (enhanced DBS)
- Financial/However Credentials/Decision Risk limits
- Checks: Vetting Classification, extreme affinity overlap
In UKRI’s construction work linked to animal welfare, biosciences, GM practices, and stem-cell models—this should be weighed against signalling personal awareness on policy aims.
UKRI prioritises "adequate equal representation among interviewees '% refining criterion for success.’ Targets vocal, but strive to encourage diversity where it aligns fundamentals.
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💡 Benefits Package
- 30 days annual leave + 10.5 public and reserved bank days
- Flexible working policies with negotiation
- Stipend-squared benefits
🜅 Applications
Secondment specifically: Innovate UK Business Connect employees can make of two years Downgrade within employees contact Employment Team to confirm eligibility + process steps: External candidates & key information: incl-use [direct link] applied through uplift digital process. Applik candidate data les will follow requirement on *
—once offer made. Easily Filtered & welcome.**
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